Wednesday, July 16, 2014

What
makes summer fun – the picnics, the cookouts, the family reunions, the road
trips, the beach vacations –
often involves traveling with food.

It’s
a challenge to keep food safe from pesky bacteria that can make people sick and
choose dishes that provide maximum flavor.

We
gathered advice from
experts well-versed in the art of traveling with food: DeeDee Stovel, a former
caterer from Northern California who wrote “Picnic: 125 Recipes with 29
Seasonal Menus,” and two North Carolina authors who have written tailgating
cookbooks, Debbie Moose of Raleigh, author of “Fan Fare: A Playbook of Great
Recipes for Tailgating or Watching the Game at Home,” and Taylor Mathis of
Charlotte, author of “The Southern Tailgating Cookbook.”

-
Choose ingredients that are safer to eat outdoors in hot weather. Skip
mayonnaise-based dressings for salads; try dressings with oil and vinegar or
some other acid. Avoid dips and spreads that are heavy on dairy products, such
as cream cheese or heavy cream; serve salsa instead.

-
Chill food thoroughly before packing it in a cooler. Stovel said, “Don’t cool
(food) in the cooler.”

Packing

-
Cold food needs to be kept at 40 degrees or below to prevent bacterial growth.
The key, Moose said, is “ice and more ice and then get some more ice.” If you
don’t want to deal with coolers filled with water at outings’ end, Stovel
offers this advice: Fill clean, recycled milk containers with water, leaving
some space at the top for ice to expand. Freeze until solid. Use those blocks
of ice to keep food cold.

-
Keep raw meat separate from other foods to prevent cross-contamination. Pack
burger patties, marinated chicken or other raw meat in a separate cooler, and
label it as being used for that purpose. The last thing you want, Moose said,
is someone grabbing a cup of ice from the cooler that held raw meat.

-
Keep ice for drinks and even beverages in a separate, labeled cooler. If more
ice is needed to keep food cold, raid the beverage cooler. “If the choice is
between keeping soda cold and keeping raw meat cold,” Moose said, “nobody has
died from drinking a warm soda, so act accordingly.”

-
Consider investing in equipment such as insulated bags to tote food to outings
and to wrap around casserole dishes. Reusable ice packs come in many shapes and
sizes: small bags, large blocks, can coolers, flexible blankets and more.
Retailers also sell electric coolers that can plug into a car’s outlet or
cigarette lighter; prices range based on size from $60 to $150. About the
latter, Stovel said, “we got this when we were traveling across the country.”

Serving

-
Leave food in the cooler until ready to serve. Once food is served, it should
sit out no longer than 2 hours, or 1 hour if temperatures are above 90 degrees.
“Pay attention to what the weather is going to be like,” Mathis said. And keep
track of the time.

-
Keep hand sanitizer and disposable gloves on hand, especially if you are
handling raw meat to grill. “You don’t have the sink to wash your hands,” Moose
said.

-
Some ingredients need to wait until the last minute: Slice tomatoes to top
burgers or salads. Wait to toss salads with dressings until right before
serving. “I like to dress salads on site so things don’t get soggy,” Mathis
said. Another tip: Pack dressing in a recycled water bottle or a Mason jar.

-
Put prepared foods on ice to serve. Mathis recommends using sets of nesting bowls
for this purpose: Place the food in the smaller bowl and set it inside a large
bowl of ice. Other ideas: Use disposable lasagna pans filled with ice, or even
a large black trash bag filled with ice, nestled around the food container.
“It’s not going to win any decorating awards, but it will do the job,” Moose
said.

-
If you do a lot of outdoor entertaining, consider investing in some insulated
serving bowls that are placed in the freezer beforehand; prices range from $55
to $130.

-
Enjoy yourself. “Just have fun picnicking,” Stovel said. “I think it’s one of
the best ways to entertain. The food is all prepared, and you just have to
bring it, spread it out and the party’s on.”

Sunday, July 13, 2014

But the task of feeding
yourself can seem like Mission: Impossible once you step off the continent.
Language, culture and availability make finding animal-free nosh a massive
ordeal that can swallow up a whole afternoon of your hard-earned vacation/travel
time. And when your blood sugar starts to dip, after a long bus ride or a day
traipsing around some ruins, the difficulty and frustration involved in finding
vegetarian food
can wreck your day.

Maintaining an alternative food
lifestyle while
traveling in countries that do not understand or recognize vegetarianism as the
moral/ethical/healthful imperative that it is to you, will always be a
challenge. But there are ways to make it easier.

After globe-trotting across
every continent, 30+ countries, I've developed a few strategies to help keep my
lean, mean, vegetarian machine meat-free on the hoof.

Research

Going to Egypt? Friggin' Google
"vegetarian Egyptian food!" Of course you could probably eat pizza
and french fries for every meal and have a (very dull) vegetarian holiday but
the whole point is to sample the local flavour. A little research will go a
long way and you won't miss culinary gems like kosheri (Egypt's delicious, and
vegetarian, ode to carbohydrates).

Pack
your own seasoning

The sad truth is that to stay
veggie in certain countries and regions you may end up eating some boring,
bland and tasteless food. On a three month trip to South America my diet mostly
consisted of boiled rice, over-fried eggs and a dusting of limp vegetables. Do
yourself a favour and make sure you have some salt and pepper stashed in your
bag, hot sauce or spices can also help relieve the ennui of repetition.

Self-cater

Hunting for a decent place to
eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner every single day is stressful. Is the
kitchen clean? Is there anything on the menu I can order? Take the guesswork
and anxiety out of eating by hitting a local market. A decent veggie picnic can
be cobbled together in this way, and usually for a lot cheaper than eating at a
restaurant. Make sure to pack a Swiss Army knife for slicing fruit and veg, and
(most importantly) opening bottles of wine.

Bring
an arsenal of vitamins

To keep your veggie faith
burning bright while traveling, you'll most likely be eating a limited and
repetitive diet (cheese sandwiches again? Yay). As a result it's possible you
could become deficient in some vitamins and nutrients that you'd get from your
normal, varied, vegetarian diet. Taking a multivitamin and an iron supplement
while you travel can fill in the nutritional gaps, and also help you avoid the
fatigue that is associated with some vitamin and mineral deficiencies. Because
really, being tired when you're on vacation is a drag.

Accept

OK, I'm a veggie, you're a
veggie, but most of the world gets down with meat products. Food is history,
it's culture. In short it embodies many of the reasons we travel in the first
place. And for that reason I propose that once in a while it's OK to stray from
the vegetarian path. It's OK to nibble blood sausage fresh from a market stall
in rural France, slurp authentic pho in Vietnam or taste Argentina's famous
beef. It's more than just food, it's identity.

It's also a good idea to keep
some snacks on you at all times, in case you get stranded in a locale where the
food options are limited. Keeping yourself fed and healthy while you're traveling
is more important than it is at home. Thieves and scammers are always on the
lookout for people who are vulnerable. And when your blood sugar is in the
toilet, your decision making is not at its best. You think the bad guys don't
notice but it's their job to notice, and they'll take advantage of your food
deprived, shadow-of-a-self and con you.

So, when gearing up for your
next international adventure (or your first one) get planning, get packing and
get real, because the richness that travel adds to your life and to your soul
is well worth a little fish sauce entering your temple.

Friday, July 11, 2014

Regular exercise and good
eating habits will help you stay lean and toned during your busy summer. You
can easily put on 20 pounds of fat during a 2-week summer vacation! Have fun on
your vacation and do fun exercises and workouts.

Clothing usually is looser in
the summer to keep us cooler in the summer heat, so keeping up with exercise
and eating right is a huge challenge. Since you will wear less clothing in the
summer, you want to look good, right? Well, you may need to pay more attention
to your diet and level of activity to stay in shape!

Whiletraveling,
vacations and summer plans may keep you busy, don’t neglect your workout
schedule. You can still exercise and do everything you need to do – including
enjoying your summer! You just have to be a little creative.

1. Never skip both your Friday
and Monday workouts. If you do this, you will probably go 4 full days (Fri,
Sat, Sun, Monday) without working out. Four missed workout days could turn into
weeks, months, summers and years!

2. Get a stability ball,
medicine balls, resistance bands and dumbbells to do exercises anywhere,
anytime.

3. Walk 30 minutes every day
whether you workout or not. This keeps your fat-burning enzymes working for
you. For better overall health and
fitness, it is critical to be as active as possible every day.

4. Exercise at your hotel
while on vacation. Most hotels will have a pool and small gym. Some even have
obstacle courses.

Plan your menus and pack your
food during the summer and when on vacation. You can also plan healthy meals at
the restaurants you will be visiting. This will help you avoid the fast food
trap and binge eating.

You know the food traps found
in airport or roadside restaurants. The food choices are usually high-calorie,
high-carb and high-fat. And, you know how much money you can waste at these
food establishments.

Haphazard eating or grazing
will skyrocket your calories and pack pounds on your body. Eat plenty of
high-protein and high-fiber foods to keep your blood sugar levels more steady
and to stay fuller for longer.